Equipment for the ventilation of beds



A ril 9, 1968 M. TOBOLEWSKI EQUIPMENT FOR THE VENTILATION OF BEDSOriginal Filed March 13. 1964 INVENTORI Maximilian Tobolewski {Ross {KMAttorney United States Patent 3,376,584 EQUIPMENT FOR THE VENTILATION OFBEDS Maximilian Tobolewski, 25/21 Hainholz, 243 N eustadt, Holstein,Germany Continuation of application Ser. No. 353,017, Mar. 13, 1964,This application June 13, 1966, Ser. No. 557,320 8 Claims. (Cl. -317)ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Ventilating device for beds, in the form of aboxshaped insert which laterally overhangs-an underlying mattress so asto maintain a space between the mattress and the bed clothes hangingdown on both sides of the mattress, the overhanging portion of theinsert being slotted or otherwise perforated at the bottom and at thetop to facilitate the circulation of air through the insert to anoverlying bedsheet.

This application is a continuation of application S.N. 353,017, filedMar. 13, 1964 and now abandoned.

This invention relates to a device for ventilating a bed. In smallrooms, especially in one and two-room flats, there is often not roomenough for spreading out coverlets and other articles of bedding for thepurpose of thorough and sufficient ventilation. There have been proposedracks on which the bedding can be spread out but, since these have to beerected in the rooms and themselves occupy considerable space, they donot provide the solution to the problem.

The object of this invention is to provide means for ventilating a bedwithout it being necessary to move the bedding to a special place or toleave a bed uncovered for a long period.

In accordance with the invention, a device for ventilating a bed, whichis adapted to be placed between upper and lower parts of a made-up bedwith at least a part of the device extending outwardly beyond a boundaryof the lower parts of the bed, comprises a flat hollow box with parallelrectangular top and bottom walls joined by end and side walls, withspaced openings to its interior in at least the top and bottom walls.With the aid of this new device, a bed can be made up in the earlymorning, even with the addition of a day cover, and ventilation canproceed throughout the day.

Two embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way ofexample, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawingwherein:

FIGURE 1 represents part of a vertical cross-section of the bed with theventilating device in place;

FIGURE 2 is a plan of the device;

FIGURE 3 is a vertical section on the line III-III in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a device;

FIGURE 5 is an end view of the device as viewed from either the top orthe bottom of FIGURE 4; and

FIGURE 6 is a sectional view drawn to a difierent scale, on the lineVIVI in FIGURE 4.

In FIGURE 1 the ventilating device 1 is shown in position in a made-upbed comprising a bedstead 2, a mattress 3 on a spring base locatedbetween the sides 2a of the bedstead and an underlay 4 on which thedevice is positioned with its sides extending outwardly a little waybeyond the sides of the mattress and underlay; the top coverings 5 areplaced on the ventilating insert 1. This insert could be placed directlyon the mattress 3 with omission of underlay 4.

As shown in FIGURES 2 and 3, the ventilating device 1 is in the form ofa flat box, whose major walls, i.e. the

plan of another form of the ventilating 3,376,584 Patented Apr. 9, 1968top and bottom of the device when in use, are rectangular and parallelto one another. The top and bottom are each formed with a number ofelongated openings or slots 6, extending parallel to one another and tothose sides of the device which, in use, are parallel to the sides ofthe bed. The device is formed with rounded corners at the junctions ofthe top and bottom with the sides and some of the openings, 6a, aredisposed in those rounded parts. As shown, the openings 6 and 6a aredivided into two groups separated by a medial transverse continuous partof the bottom, top and sides which serves as a strengthening member. Theribs 7 bounding the openings 6, 6a are of T-section, with the leg of theT on the inside, to stiffen the device. The insert 1 may be made as twosimilar halves, namely an upper half and a lower half, in the shape ofshallow cup-like members which can be assembled edge-to-edge. The devicemay be made of plastic or other materials such as wood and metal.

Bedsteads are now made to standardized dimensions and the ventilatingdevice will be made slightly wider than the standard width of a bed soas to extend at the sides beyond the edges of the mattress, forming anoverhang 1a as indicated in FIGURE 1. Air can enter the device throughthe lower openings 6a at its sides to circulate within the device andthrough the other openings to the underlying and overlying parts of thebedding. Even a final day-covering does not prevent the access of air,since the hanging sides of the covering will be spaced from the sides ofthe lower part of the bed to leave passages for the movement of air, asindicated by the arrow 8. It is only necessary for the device to extenda few centimeters beyond the mattress, so that the increased width doesnot detract from the appearance of the bed.

The device shown in FIGURES 4 to 6 has the same overall shape anddimensions, and is used in the same manner, as that described withreference to FIGURES 1 to 3. This device comprises two parallel endwalls and an intermediate partition wall, all the walls being of similarform with the intermediate wall parallel to and midway between the endwalls. The sides, top and bottom of the device are constituted bytubular bars 7a of triangular profile, with inwardly pointing verticesas seen in FIGURE 5, which are separated by spacers 16, 16a and lieparallel to the sides, extending between the end walls and through anintermediate wall. Each of these walls has a web 9 reinforced by anenlargement of its upper and lower edges; in FIGURE 6 this enlargementis shown as a flange 10 at each end of the web, giving the wall thecross-section of an I-beam whose flanges overlie the bars 7a from theoutside. The webs 9 of these walls are formed with triangular openingsto receive and locate the tubes 7a. The end and partition walls 9, 10may be made of plastic material. This form of the ventilating device isa cheaper construction, is readily disassembled to facilitate storageand transport and can be readily reassembled where it is to be used; italso lends itself to be adjusted to the length of the bed.

For any specific purpose, two or more of the ventilating devices may beused end-to-end or side-by-side.

I claim:

1. In a bed, in combination, a mattress and a ventilating deviceoverlying said mattress, said device comprising a box-shaped insert withan overhanging portion projecting laterally beyond said mattress, saidinsert being provided with perforations at least along its upper andlower surfaces including the lower surface of said overhanging portionwhereby air is free to circulate from below through said insert even inthe presence of a blanket overhanging same.

2. The combination defined in claim 1 wherein said overhanging portionhas rounded longitudinal top and bottom edges interrupted by some ofsaid perforations.

3. The combination defined in claim 1 wherein said perforations arelongitudinally extending slots.

4. The combination defined in claim 3 wherein said slots are bounded bysets of parallel bars extending along the upper and lower surfaces ofsaid insert.

5. The combination defined in claim 4 wherein said bars are oftriangular profile with inwardly pointing veltices.

6. The combination defined in claim 4 wherein said insert furthercomprises a pair of end walls and an intermediate wall extendingtransversely to said bars and supporting same.

7. The combination defined in claim 6 wherein said walls have the shapeof I-beams with webs traversed by said bars and with flanges overlyingsaid bars from the outside.

8. The combination defined in claim 4 wherein said bars are tubular.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 773,138 10/1904 Finchum 53471,669,683 5/1928 Temple at al. 2,295,363 9/1942 Schott 5-337 2,461,4322/1949 Mitchell 5284 2,674,752 4/1954 Berman 5337 2,807,809 10/1957Kottemann 5-347 3,101,488 8/1963 Peebles 5284 BOBBY R. GAY, PrimaryExaminer.

R. D. KRAUS, Assistant Examiner.

